Tribe Looks to Strengthen Their Bench with Raburn

The Cleveland Indians are still looking for a true utility man as they are just one month away from Spring Training, and they may have found one in free agent Ryan Raburn. The Tribe is reportedly just a physical away from offering Raburn a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training in Goodyear, Arizona to compete for a bench spot on their 2013 roster. The 31-year old infielder/outfielder hit .171 with one home run and 12 RBIs for the Detroit Tigers. Raburn hit a big slump early in the season, and was sent down to Triple-A to work things out; Injuries hampered the latter part of the season and he was limited to just 66 Major-League appearances for the club.

Raburn has spent his entire seven-year career with the Tigers, appearing in 566 games and putting together a .256 batting average with his best years coming from 2009 to 2011. The Indians would love to have him return to his pre-2012 form and give them a viable option off the bench for the infield and outfield. Raburn has played the bulk of his career at left field, making 265 starts there. He has played 143 games at second base, 114 in right field, 35 in center field, 33 at third base and 13 at first base. The Indians lost their utility man from last season when Jason Donald was dealt away as part of the Shin-Soo Choo trade to the Reds that saw left fielder Drew Stubbs come to Cleveland.